At it’s core Garadget uses Photon P1 module from Particle. Their cloud IoT platform generated a lot of enthusiasm among developers and home automation hobbyists. Most of the tools and projects available for generic Photon development module will also work with Garadget. Among other things, there’s integration with popular IFTTT platform which allows Garadget to be interfaced with hundreds of existing services such as Google Docs, Twitter etc. Do you want your garage to open every time somebody mentions your name on reddit?.. I don’t think so. Yet you can make it happen.

Several Garadget users asked for more details about IFTTT integration so I’ll try to shed some light on it.
If you’re not familiar with IFTTT, then you should check them out. They are a great system for integrating products and apps.

Ideally Garagdet should have its dedicated channel, but partnering with IFTTT comes with a substantial annual subscription fee. Since Garadget itself is offered as the product without a monthly bill, a dedicated IFTTT channel is not currently viable. This will change as the sales increase.

There’s still a way to use your Garadget in IFTTT recipes, though it’s a bit of a process. Because Garadget relies on the Particle platform, it is possible to use their IFTTT channel after converting your unit from organization product into generic Particle Photon. By default Garadgets are linked to the organization which allows us to monitor the connection status, push firmware updates and process the events stream from devices.

Additionally to availability of IFTTT integration there are several more pros for leaving organization mode:

you get additional control of your device essentially turning into a development board

all Particle development tools and features become available including online editor, web hooks etc.

one fewer entity with access to your data

Cons for leaving organization mode are:

native mobile apps will not work with generic account. Web app, wearables apps and smart home integrations are not affected

push notifications will no longer work as we’re no longer be receiving the event stream from your unit. If needed you can replace and expand them with equivalent IFTTT recipes

future firmware updates will have to be applied manually

The steps:

Send private message listing ID of the device(s) you want moved out of organization mode and wait for confirmation. To verify ownership, you’ll be asked to rename the device(s).

Register a new account with email that wasn’t involved in Garadget organization and add your device(s) to it

After these steps are completed you’ll be able to connect your new Particle account in IFTTT as a channel for IFs and DOs, monitor variables, listen to events and call functions. The lost Garadget features such as push notifications and location alerts can be replaced with IFTTT recipes. For the information on supported variables, events and functions see the Garadget firmware page at GitHub.

Does IFTTT have an API? Can I create my own Channel?
We’re building a Channel Platform to allow anyone with an API to create a Channel! To receive updates as development progresses, fill out this short survey.

Found this on IFTTT. Maybe we can look into this instead of a $3000 per month sub?

There’s IFTTT maker channel for personal projects. It shouldn’t be too difficult to set up it to send the instructions to Garadget from the recipes, but to trigger the recipes from Garadget’s state you’ll need to connect to the events stream https://api.particle.io/v1/devices/events and forward the events to IFTTT. You can see how subscription to the stream is implemented in Particle CLI.